Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans warned Attorney General Merrick Garland against using federal law enforcement to “chill” or prosecute First Amendment-protected speech opposing “critical race theory” in classrooms following a DOJ memo about alleged threats and violence at school protests.
The letter, led by ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley and signed by all 11 GOP committee members, said that “violence and true threats of violence are not protected speech and have no place in the public discourse of a democracy” but that “the FBI should not be involved in quashing and criminalizing discourse that is well beneath violent acts” and that “federal law enforcement muscle should never be used against protesting parents.”
CRITICS SAY GARLAND HAS CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST IN SCHOOL BOARD DOJ MEMO
Garland’s memo alleged that “there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools.” It argued that “while spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views.”
Republicans said on Thursday that the Justice Department’s efforts could have a chilling effect on the speech of parents concerned about their children’s education.
“We are concerned about the appearance of the Department of Justice policing the speech of citizens and concerned parents,” the Senate Republicans said. “We urge you to make very clear to the American public that the Department of Justice will not interfere with the rights of parents to come before school boards and speak with educators about their concerns, whether regarding coronavirus-related measures, the teaching of critical race theory in schools, sexually explicit books in schools, or any other topic. Furthermore, we urge you to instruct the FBI and the various United States Attorneys to make clear in the meetings discussed above that speech and democratic processes, like those that occur at a local school board meeting, must be respected.”
Last month, the National School Boards Association argued that “the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes” and called upon the DOJ to review whether the PATRIOT Act, “in regards to domestic terrorism,” could be deployed. The Republicans noted that the PATRIOT Act is “a statute that helps the federal government fight international terrorism” and said it was “a reference that is entirely inappropriate.”
Garland’s son-in-law, Alexander “Xan” Tanner, is the co-founder of Panorama Education, a software firm in thousands of schools that uses “social emotional learning” student surveys and teacher trainings as a “vehicle” to push left-wing ideas about race, with some conservative critics arguing this presents a conflict of interest for the attorney general.
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Senate Republicans said on Thursday that protesting parents “are certainly not domestic terrorists” and that they are “engaging in speech that is clearly protected under the First Amendment.”
